Ableton Forum

I've recently just got the akai mpk49. however i literally am lost with ableton. my sliders and knobs used to work but now they dont do anything. I want to know how to use the sliders and knobs with clips and stuff but all i have figured out how to do is play instruments with my keyboard. also the beat pads how do you assign clips to each individual pad? Also the play, record and stop buttons arent doing anything. I REALLy would appreciate the help cause all i can do is play instruments and i want record my beats and stuff. i can only figure out the keys part but the stuff that is on the mpd32(Sliders, Knobs, Pads, Etc.) im having a real difficult time using.

this controller is nothing but a pain in the ass.
i think the major problem with this thing is that there are no drivers for it!
class compliant... bullshit!
every damn time i want to use this with live i first have to start live then disconnect the controller, reconnect the controller and start live again.

and then the "auto mapping" feature is total bullshit. you would think that you could open a synth on one track with controls mapped to the synth, close the synth, open a synth on a new track and controls would be mapped to that synth.. not so.

i have had this piece of shit for 2 weeks now and am seriously thinking about taking it back and getting an axiom.
and then the pads.. what a joke.... i have never have bought a product that i have had to open up and tape shit to in order for it to work.

stay away from this piece of shit controller people!

and then the "auto mapping" feature is total bullshit. you would think that you could open a synth on one track with controls mapped to the synth, close the synth, open a synth on a new track and controls would be mapped to that synth.. not so.

This is how it works for me. Whatever's selected in live, the 8 knobs will control the first 8 parameters for it.

And the pads have been fine for me after changing the threshold, sensitivity and velocity curves on them.

agent314 wrote:

and then the "auto mapping" feature is total bullshit. you would think that you could open a synth on one track with controls mapped to the synth, close the synth, open a synth on a new track and controls would be mapped to that synth.. not so.

This is how it works for me. Whatever's selected in live, the 8 knobs will control the first 8 parameters for it.

And the pads have been fine for me after changing the threshold, sensitivity and velocity curves on them.

ok,
does live detect your mpk as soon as you start the program or do you also have to unplug the controller and restart live like me?
im asking this because it has crossed my mind that it might be a problem with windows.

does live detect your mpk as soon as you start the program or do you also have to unplug the controller and restart live like me?
im asking this because it has crossed my mind that it might be a problem with windows.

This happens intermittently, but it's not MPK specific. It happened with my Axiom49 and sometimes happens with my APC, too.

What I think happens is Live doesn't close out of memory entirely (it's sometimes still there as a process in Task manager), so that phantom instance of Live has still got the MIDI identity for the controllers and makes them not able to be used correctly.

I think that's more of a random problem with my audio interface though - it never happens when I'm using the native audio hardware for my desktop/laptop.

It's also a very random problem - for every 30 times I start and stop Live, it may happen once or twice.

How do you change the pad sensitivity, threshold, etc?

It's all in the menus, which you can get to by pushing the the GLOBAL and EDIT buttons - I can't remember the exact path, but it's all in the manual which is available as a PDF from Akai's site.

They're still not as sensitive as, say, my padKontrol, but they're absolutely sensitive enough to put down nice beats with them.

That´s the type of problem that make me to buy a mac 2 years ago...

Always be a windows user just because Live does not run on linux and I refused to pay 3 times the price of an PC for an laptop.... BUT....

When you realize that you spend more than 50% of your time installing drivers, open and closing programs, rebooting the computer, etc... you realize that the $$$ for the mac is ridiculous low...

Now I use my SAME midi controllers and can connect, disconnect with LIVE RUNNING and all just works, now I can focus 100% of my time on production and performing and forget all the other things, just plug and use.

Oh, and yes, I have 30% of my CPU free of any antivirus software that consume my CPU more than an virus actually....to run my applications...

Not saying that a windows machine cannot be stable, but many people need to use the computer to other things like email, internet, etc. IMHO to get an windows PC close to an mac you have to install JUST windows(XP) with your DAW, drivers and REMOVE THE NETWORK CARD to not need install any antivirus software. Maybe some users get it working better, but it´s a exception...

I have :

M-AUDIO Fast Track USB
M-AUDIO X-Sesssion PRO
Novation Launchpad
AKAI MPK49
2 Korg Nano´s

All sucked with windows and all WORKS with my MBP.

Not saying that a windows machine cannot be stable, but many people need to use the computer to other things like email, internet, etc. IMHO to get an windows PC close to an mac you have to install JUST windows(XP) with your DAW, drivers and REMOVE THE NETWORK CARD to not need install any antivirus software. Maybe some users get it working better, but it´s a exception...

This is a nice image for anti-Windows folks to hold onto, but for the most part it's not really true anymore.

I use my desktop for gaming and general computer usage as well as Live, and I have next to no problems with it. There's the occasional hiccup, but certainly not enough to spend 2-3x for a comparable system, on an OS that I'm lukewarm to at best.

The only thing I envy about OSX vs Win7 is the ability to add and remove USB at will without having to restart Live. Otherwise, the flexibility, lower cost-vs-performance ratio, upgradeability and hardware options definitely make it worthwhile for me.

That said, I do want a MacBook Pro, simply for build quality and battery life.

same here with the usb windows issue. only happens when i restart my thinkpad. if the mpk49 is plugged in and i open live, live will never detect it. i have to shit it down and replug the usb cable for the mpk. then i have to open ableton. great process. i don't remember my alesis photon x25 producing this problem however so it might not be a windows issue completely.

macs are just awesome for the fact if you accidentally unplug the usb your music can still run... no snitch

^^ actually edit. i just unplugged my mpk while just using massive as standalone replugged usb in windows and did not have to restart massive.... woah so it's ableton for windows on that particular issue